Wort aeration - Disposable Red O2 tank from hardware store

[king5899]

I've seen people say they have gotten between 2 and 12 batches of wort aerated with one of these. Can anyone chine in with a good regulator what you can get? I bought one of the inexpensive kits and the crappy regulater bleeds out a red bottle in seconds and I'd be lucky if I got one batch. The internal threads are messed up or something.

Wondering if I should just get a better regulator like below or go to the 20# welding tank setup which will be cheaper in the long run unless many get more than 4 or 5 batches per little red tank.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EDQ0E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks,
MJK

 

[tdbc2011]

I purchased the regulator below from Williams Brewing and I have lost count of the number of beers I have brewed using it. I believe I have a 20 cubic ft tank.
It has worked great!

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/OXYGEN-REGULATOR-FOR-WELDING-TANK-P3476.aspx

 

[kev211]

I bought this one from more beer for use with one of the red tanks from home depot. I've never had an issue with it and at this point I think I have 4 or 5 o2 tanks under my belt all with ~10 uses per tank. I've never had any issues with it leaking. The only time I've had any "issues" is when I didn't tighten the hose clamp around my o2 stone and had it leak there. But that was my own dang fault

https://www.morebeer.com/products/oxygen-regulator-disposable-tanks-wbarb.html

 

[king5899]

I bought this one from more beer for use with one of the red tanks from home depot. I've never had an issue with it and at this point I think I have 4 or 5 o2 tanks under my belt all with ~10 uses per tank. I've never had any issues with it leaking. The only time I've had any "issues" is when I didn't tighten the hose clamp around my o2 stone and had it leak there. But that was my own dang fault

https://www.morebeer.com/products/oxygen-regulator-disposable-tanks-wbarb.html

With that regulator are you just opening it up slightly for 30 seconds and your good or is there a good amount of control with that valve? The valve I had seemed to be on full blast or off which killed a tank.

 

[kev211]

With that regulator are you just opening it up slightly for 30 seconds and your good or is there a good amount of control with that valve? The valve I had seemed to be on full blast or off which killed a tank.

There's a pretty good amount of control. I can put my stone against the edge of the glass and see the bubbles/foamy o2 but not get any bubbles on top or turn it up til I get bubbles on top. Its a great product.

 

[king5899]

I'll give those little red bottles one more try. Thank you both.

 

[Queequeg]

I use a O2 flow meter which can both restrict and measure flow.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I use the same basic style valve as kev211. I screw it on the tank, hook up the hose and wand and then place the end of the wand (the aeration stone) in a pot of sanitizer and slowly open the valve until a good (but not excessive) stream of bubbles comes out of the stone. Then I put it in my wort and aerate for about 90 sec. I've done 7 or 8 brews on my current tank (the standard small red one from Depot House) and it's still going strong.

 

[king5899]

Looking forward to trying the new valve, thank

 

[kev211]

I use the same basic style valve as kev211. I screw it on the tank, hook up the hose and wand and then place the end of the wand (the aeration stone) in a pot of sanitizer and slowly open the valve until a good (but not excessive) stream of bubbles comes out of the stone. Then I put it in my wort and aerate for about 90 sec. I've done 7 or 8 brews on my current tank (the standard small red one from Depot House) and it's still going strong.

Do you boil the stone too? Or just sanitize it? I've always sanitized it then boiled it, but I feel like boiling adds another unnecessary step and wastes a lot of distilled water. But if someone else has had good luck (I.e. no infections) by just sanitizing I may switch my method

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Before I aerate I submerge the disconnected hose and wand in sanitizer. Then I connect the hose to the wand and the valve, making sure there is sanitizer trapped in the hose. When I turn on the oxygen it forces the sanitizer through the stone. Then I'm ready to aerate.

When I'm done aerating the wort, I remove the wand from the wort with the oxygen still flowing and place it back in sanitizer to bubble some more before shutting it off. This seems to keep everything well sanitized. I store the wand with a plastic bag over the stone. Every 5 or 6 brews I will boil the stone just to be safe.

Just an additional note. My understanding is that pure oxygen, by itself, is toxic to bugs so this removes one more level of concern.

 

[kev211]

Just an additional note. My understanding is that pure oxygen, by itself, is toxic to bugs so this removes one more level of concern.

Huh, didnt know that. But good to know!

 

[MFWINZLOW]

I've seen people say they have gotten between 2 and 12 batches of wort aerated with one of these. Can anyone chine in with a good regulator what you can get? I bought one of the inexpensive kits and the crappy regulater bleeds out a red bottle in seconds and I'd be lucky if I got one batch. The internal threads are messed up or something.

Wondering if I should just get a better regulator like below or go to the 20# welding tank setup which will be cheaper in the long run unless many get more than 4 or 5 batches per little red tank.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EDQ0E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks,
MJK

I get millions of batches outta mine....
(READ: no longer used / no longer wasting time)

 

[mesooohoppy]

I am not sure 100% what's going in this thread, but i use the aeration wand from Northern Brewer. I remember it being a little more than I wanted to spend, but looking back, I'm glad I did.

It works really well and doesn't seem to use that much oxygen from the small bernzomatic o2 tank. I think I've got 15ish brews under my belt, and I've used it on every brew hitting it with 30 to 60 seconds of o2. I'm still on the same first bottle/tank. I've bought another as a backup after learning me lesson of running out of propane mid boil.

Once I started making starters (after I bought the aeration wand), I have noticed consistent, healthy fermentations.

 

[Hujo]

Do you boil the stone too? Or just sanitize it? I've always sanitized it then boiled it, but I feel like boiling adds another unnecessary step and wastes a lot of distilled water. But if someone else has had good luck (I.e. no infections) by just sanitizing I may switch my method

Why are you boiling in distilled water? Also, sanitizing and then boiling it seems a bit excessive?

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I second the williams brewing little red cylinder regulator. I get probably like 10-20 batches from a red cylinder.